test-drb November 2008

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

181 participants
235 discussions

AT&T 7300/3B1's (was: Re: Who is vintagecomputermuseum?)

by jeff.kaneko＠juno.com

-- Jules Richardson <jules.richardson99 at gmail.com> wrote: >Gordon JC Pearce MM3YEQ wrote: >> micheladam at theedge.ca wrote: >>> Does anyone know of a 'bridge' converter that would allow a scsi >disk >>> to interface to an MFM controller? >>> >>> Michel Adam >> >> I'm not sure how that would work. Do you mean replacing an >existing MFM >> disk with a SCSI disk? > >It's been talked about at various times on the list here... > >It needs high-speed sampling of the MFM data at the track level into >buffer >memory, and some smarts to translate the buffer memory into blocks on >the drive. > >It *could* be done, but nobody's made it work yet AFAIK. > >cheers > >Jules Commercial products exist, for example at: www.mbiusa.com/mbi_000010.htm But I imagine they're *FRIGHTFULLY* expensive . . . . ____________________________________________________________ Enjoy the type-anywhere ease of a wireless keyboard. Click now! http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/PnY6rw1aNvZao9Vy0jrsWZZZiMWt9Xz…

17 years, 5 months

ICL 1900 hardware documentation available

by aek＠bitsavers.org

I just put up a large collection of documentation on the 1900 hardware over the past couple of days under http://bitsavers.org/pdf/ict_icl/1900 Has anyone heard anything from Brian Spoor lateley? I'm concerned since his last post on AFC seems to be from about a year ago.

17 years, 5 months

MITS Disk Boot Loader manual

by rcini＠optonline.net

All: I?m working on adding support in the Altair32 Emulator for directly reading WAV file samples of audio cassettes. Initially, I?m working with the 88-ACR but it should be a snap to modify that code to support the KCS. A WAV sample sent to me by the person who asked me to look into adding this capability is a cassette from 1977 called the MITS Disk Boot Loader. I?ve known this to be usually distributed on PROM, but I guess if you didn?t have a PROM board, the cassette makes sense. I actually have the source and ROM binary already because I use it for the floppy disk support in the Altair32. Anyway, me and a buddy of mine are starting to parse the WAV samples and it would help greatly if we could get a copy of the manual for the DBL. The owner of the tape doesn?t have it. What I?m really looking for is the toggle loader or whatever was used to bring the DBL in from cassette. If anyone has it and would be willing to scan it for me, I?d appreciate it. Thanks! Rich -- Rich Cini Collector of Classic Computers Build Master and lead engineer, Altair32 Emulator http://www.altair32.com http://www.classiccmp.org/cini

17 years, 5 months

Mystery paper tape reader

by toby＠coreware.co.uk

Hi, I was digging through my collection at the weekend and came across this paper tape reader(?). Can anyone help me identfy it? I've put some pictures up on my blog here: http://www.pdp8.co.uk/2008/11/26/mystery-paper-tape-reader/ It is labelled on the front as a ?Paper Tape Comparator?. It has an optical array for scanning the tape and an adjustable width feeder to support 3 different sizes. I can't find any indication of its make which makes me wonder if its scratch built with bits from another device. On the back is a female 25 pin D socket which I assume to be an RS232 outlet. There is also a 3 pin power socket in a format I don?t recognise. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Toby -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

17 years, 5 months

magnetic drums (early patents)

by kahrs＠caip.rutgers.edu

A fascinating topic. Here's a fun patent to read: http://www.google.com/patents?id=lBJtAAAAEBAJ Patent number: 2614169 Filing date: Jul 24, 1950 Issue date: Oct 1952 Inventor: A. A. COHEN Assignee: Engineering Research Asso Some mention is made of how they made it in 1950. Coombs original patent: http://www.google.com/patents?id=gSBXAAAAEBAJ&dq=patent:3119110 Patent number: 3119110 Filing date: May 2, 1949 Issue date: Jan 21, 1964 Inventor: J. M. COOMBS Assignee: Sperry Rand Corporation They appear to use spray paint --- not deposition.

17 years, 5 months

Stuff for sale, trade, and free! (Bloomington, IN)

by bdwheele＠indiana.edu

Its time to clean up things a bit...mostly stuff I've not had the time or desire to play with :) If I'm too high (or too low) make an offer! I'm not going to ship the complete NeXT boxes or the box of tapes, but I can be persuaded with everything else: buyer pays shipping I'm located in Bloomington, IN 47408 Things I'm looking for: * Playstation 2 * Amiga Stuff: A1200, A600 * CoCo stuff: Coco3 + disk controller * Commodore stuff: C128, 1571, 1581, C65 (hahaha) Get this stuff out of my house! Brian For Sale ========== NeXTstation (Mono) $50 32M RAM no HD Mono Monitor Mouse Keyboard Floppy Drive NeXTcube $75 64M RAM NeXT Dimension Card Color Monitor (needs 13w3 cable) Mono Monitor Mouse Keyboard Floppy Drive no HD 3x NeXT Mono Video Cable $2 each NeXT Keyboard+Mouse $5 DECserver 200/MC $5 Sun DDS2 DAT Drive in 611 Enclosure $10 599-2072-01 OkiData 184 Turbo $20 New in box 20x 10baseT external tranceivers with cable. $1 each Box of TK50s (86 tapes) $20 Distribution tapes circa 1989-1992. Ingres, RDB, Fortran, VMS 5.4, VMS 6.0, etc Freebies ======== DEC Multia AXP 166MHz Unknown condition. 32M RAM No HD 2x HP 715/64 Unknown condition One has 64M(?) and a disk. One has neither. Both show "Memory error" (leds -76-43--) SS20 Chassis No disks or ram. Didn't see a processor in there either. VAX C Manual Toshiba Satellite 400CS/810 P75 / 700M Disk / 16M RAM Battery seems to work, but no promises. External DAT, Centronics connectors. Unknown capacity 2x Ext SCSI enclosure w/centronics connectors. sun 411 enclosure size Model M Keyboard (original PC connector)

17 years, 5 months

coating a drum

by aek＠bitsavers.org

http://www.google.com/patents?id=o9IwAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&dq=3… gives you the general idea. lots more patents are there the proportions of binder to gamma-Fe2O3 and other magic sauce as dispersants is of interest.

17 years, 5 months

After an H960 rack..

by toby＠coreware.co.uk

Hi, I don't suppose anyone in the UK has any H960 DEC racks looking for a good home? I'm in the process of moving all of my collection from my storage unit to my office server room and I'm short of racks to put it all in. Would be nice to put it all in correct period racks. Condition not important as I am a dab hand at cleaning and de-rusting. Thanks, Toby -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

17 years, 5 months

Hard disk material

by wbblair3＠yahoo.com

> That claim of some drums operating at 75,000rpm has to be a typo... > I can believe 7500 - but 75,000? Ouch! Eckert once made the claim that, ?laboratory models have been operated in excess of 75,000 rpm.? That's probably where they got that.

17 years, 5 months

New home sought for a PDP-11

by gordonjcp＠gjcp.net

Hi all, I've come to the conclusion that it's time my PDP11/73 went to a new home. Not a terribly easy decision to make, but I just don't have space to even get to it to switch it on just now and I'd rather see someone else get some use out of it. Anyway, here's the spec: PDP11/73 in a large Baydel cabinet with a 40M-ish MFM drive RX02 floppies 2 x RL02 plus a spare RL02 2 x CIT101 terminals VT520 terminal VT220 terminal LA36, spare ribbons and paper spare boards including 11/03 bits, a couple of opto-isolated I/O boards and some ADC boards DEQNA about a dozen RL02 packs large box of RX02 disks RT-11 V5.2 manuals Pick up in Glasgow. You'll need a van, although not a very big one, to shift it. A large estate car would be too small unless you broke the rack down into panels - a PITA, I've done it before though. Mail me on- or off-list if you're interested. Gordon

17 years, 5 months

Hard disk material

by bnansel＠bigpond.net.au

Sun Nov 23 Eric Smith wrote: > Nickel plating would definitely not work. Some of the earliest drums > used cunife (copper/nickel/iron alloy) wire tightly wound around an > aluminum cylinder, then turned on a lathe to get a flat surface. ... Hmmm . . . that technique might work for my 2N2/256 BSCP project! It also occurs to me that the machining could be done with the drive mechanics, provided it's rigid enough and you take very light cuts. You would fabricate a cutter head that bolts in the same way as a R/W head. To take a cut, you just tweak the adjustment screw(s) and turn an additional "feed" screw to cut the track the right width. Heck, you wouldn't even need the feed screw. Make the head so it can slide laterally a millimetre or two, then you could move the cutter head back and forth by hand, the same way the Fonly lathe works. It also might be possible to just lap the R/W heads in with a tiny amount of jewer's rouge, then carefully clean all the grit out and readjust the heads to give the right gap. -Bobby

17 years, 5 months

Help with Shugart SA801 8" floppy with 230v 50 cycle

by technobug＠comcast.net

On 24 Nov 2008 13:15:50 -0800, Chuck Guzis" <cclist at sydex.com> wrote: > On 24 Nov 2008 at 14:39, John C. Ellingboe wrote: > >> I just got off of the phone with Small Parts "AGAIN" and was informed >> that after messing around and dragging their feet for 6 months they >> finally decided to refund my money and were not going to be >> handling the >> items I ordered. You may not want to trust them with your money, I >> know >> that I can't... > > That's too bad; they used to be a pretty decent outfit. > > So where does one go for small engineering findings nowadays? I've > used McMaster-Carr for some things, but that's not their specialty. Over the years I've been using WM Berg <http://www.wmberg.com/>. CRC

17 years, 5 months

Hard disk material

by aek＠bitsavers.org

like this, perhaps? http://www.google.com/patents?id=q8pJAAAAEBAJ&dq=3225183

17 years, 5 months

Seeking Proteon P4100+ router manuals

by dave＠mitton.com

Sellam, et. al. As others have contributed, Proteon was an independent network vendor in the 1980s. I'm a little unclear what became their corporate fate, (I forgot about DEC buying source code) but they did eventually come apart due to market forces. They were an early token ring manufacturer, with their own product. When IBM pushed their technology into the IEEE 802.4 standard, they adapted with the market. They also made multi-protocol routers, and since they weren't Cisco, Digital did do some work with them. I had a 4100+ and a 4200 in my development lab. Unfortunately for you I don't think I took any of that stuff home. I was the technical lead/architect for a DECnet Token Ring Data Link specification. As part of that program, I also specified how to interface DECnet-DOS/Pathworks on to PC token ring devices. We worked with Proteon to put DECnet routing support into their routers, and I think they are whom we got to OEM an 802.4 Qbus NIC card for us. (with DECnet VMS support!) This was all to deal with the pressure IBM was putting on the PC and networking business at the time. (my memory is fuzzy on that now.) God I'd love to see what happened to the customers that swore that token ring was so superior to Ethernet that it was going to rule their networks going forward. IBM put some interesting crocks into their LAN chips wrt multicast addressing that really messed things up. I'm glad to see that chapter of history closed. I may be able to make some personal contacts to see if they have anything around. I woundn't be suprised if there is a Proteon old users/collectors group out there somewhere. Dave. ---- On Nov 24, 2008, cctech-request at classiccmp.org wrote: Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:08:26 -0800 (PST) From: Sellam Ismail <sellam at vintagetech.com> Subject: Seeking Proteon P4100+ router manuals To: Classic Computers Mailing List <cctalk at classiccmp.org>, Bay Area Classic Computing List <baccl at lists.baccl.net> Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.61.0811191900180.22337 at vintagetech.com> Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII I'm looking for a set of manuals for the Proteon P4100/P4100+/P4200 routers, circa 1989 or earlier. I'm guessing Proteon was an independent company until DEC bought them at some point? Just guessing. Anyway, if you've got a set of manuals I'd be interested in purchasing them from you. Please contact me directly if you have some. Thanks! -- Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org [ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ] [ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]

17 years, 5 months

DEC Letterprinter 100 -- what are they selling for?

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: DEC Letterprinter 100 -- what are they selling for? > From: ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk (Tony Duell) > Date: Sun, 23 Nov 2008 21:27:30 +0000 (GMT) > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > >> >> >> From: <js at cimmeri.com> >> >> > >> > Are DEC Letterprinter 100's in nice, working, non-noticeably-yellowed >> > condition worth anything at present? Or are they pretty much recycling >> > fodder? >> >> Don't know if they are worth anything, I've never had to pay for one - they >> just keep arriving here! > >I have no idea what they're worth either. I was given a couple with my >11/730 system... IIRC the Letterprinter is the RO (no keyboard) model, >the Letterwriter is the KSR (with keyboard) one. > >> They are useful though, as they correctly emulate a Teletype and allow >> overprinting, which most modern printers don't, but I suppose that's only >> useful if you have an interest in ASCII art! > >It's a 9 pin dot-matrix head which is tilted mechanically (a pair of >solenoids shuttling a shaped core to and fro inside the carriage) to give >18 pin resolution in 2 passes. I find them interesting because of that >curious mechanism. > >-tony I have two LA100ro as they proved in the field to be rugged and I got to see that from the point of view of DEC printers engineering. The curious approach to "18pin" printing was twofold. One was to allow fast draft quality printing and the other was rugged high quality printing that could still punch multipart forms with a known reliable head. At that time there were a few 18 pin heads but they didn't have the long term life at sustained high print rates. Note, this is a 1984-5 design so understand that many printers at that time were of smaller or less rugged style or really imposing printers. The LA100RO is most valuable to businesses that still used wide pinfed (assuming you have the forms tractor) multipart forms. In the high quality mode it does print decently and the graphics printing is not as slow as some dot matrix were. Allison

17 years, 5 months

Interlan ethernet transceiver units available

by auringer＠tds.net

More stuff uncovered. I have several (~5, actually) Interlan NT10 transceivers to dispose of. These clamp on to coaxial backbone ethernet cables and pierce the jacket (vampire tap) to make a connection. They have an AUI port to connect your equipment to. If you are interested in them, make me an offer for my time to box them up and take them to a shipper. If there is no interest, they will get recycled. I am still in Madison Wi. 53714 Jon Jon Auringer auringer at tds.net

17 years, 5 months

http://www.series80.org/ dead ?

by hp-fix＠xs4all.nl

Does anyone knows what happened with the site http://www.series80.org/ It appears to be dead.. -Rik

17 years, 5 months

TRS80 on craigs in Montreal

by joachim.thiemann＠gmail.com

I just saw this on Craig's; I have no connection to the seller. http://montreal.en.craigslist.ca/sys/930932281.html (I do have some TRS-80 manuals for cost of shipping to give away though... contact me off-list for details if needed) Joe. --- Joachim Thiemann :: http://www.tsp.ece.mcgill.ca/~jthiem

17 years, 5 months

Seeking Proteon P4100+ router manuals

by oldcpu2＠rogerwilco.org

On Wed Nov 19 21:08:26 CST 2008, Sellam Ismail sellam said: > I'm looking for a set of manuals for the Proteon P4100/P4100+/P4200 > routers, circa 1989 or earlier. I'm guessing Proteon was an independent > company until DEC bought them at some point? Just guessing. Anyway, if > you've got a set of manuals I'd be interested in purchasing them from you. I can't help you with manuals, but I will confirm that Proteon was indeed an independent firm in the 80's. During the early and mid-80's I was a member of Novell's technical staff during and had a good working relationships with several Proteon engineers. Novell, of course, had PC networking software and was working with just about any and all PC networking hardware vendors to make sure that there was a NetWare driver for their gear. At that time, Proteon had their own flavor of token-ring over twisted pair style hardware call Pro-Net. I don't remember the details or the transfer rates, but it was not particularly successful and later Proteon ended up joining the shift of the industry to Ethernet. Somewhere along the way, in the very early 90's, I think, they combined with 3Com. If I remember right, Proteon was located in Waltham, MA during the 80's. - Jared

17 years, 5 months

anybody have any IBM 8525's?

by dm561＠torfree.net

----------Original Message: Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2008 01:45:19 -0600 From: "joe lobocki" <jlobocki at gmail.com> Subject: anybody have any IBM 8525's? hello, Im trying to find one of those all-in-one PS/2 computers that IBM had in the late 80s, some were under the "EDUQUEST" badging, but most were the all-in-one 8525, and for some reason those who are selling on ebay think they have one of the rarest machines in the world and charge as so, and it really makes me regret not grabbing one from the salvage pile when they dumped all the ones in 99 when i was in middle school. anyway, does anyone have one they are willing to part with, or know of a cheap source of them? thanks -Joe -----------Reply: You might have more luck if you ask on the Vintage Computer Forum (vintage-computer.com) Several hundred EDUQUESTs around, but don't know which model.

17 years, 5 months

Ethan thawing

by wdonzelli＠gmail.com

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Ethan Dicks <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> Date: Nov 24, 2008 12:54 AM Subject: Can you make a cctalk posting for me? Hi, Will, I'm in NZ now, and I managed to easily disconnect my USAP subscription, but my request to add from gmail hasn't gone through yet. So could you do me a favor and mention on the list that I'm in Christchurch for a few weeks and would enjoy the opportunity to meet with anyone on the list who's in town to talk about computers, etc. Just have them contact me at this address. I check it frequently. Thanks, -ethan

17 years, 5 months

FS or FT: HP75D and 82164A (HP-IL/RS-232C Interface)

by joachim.thiemann＠gmail.com

Hello, in an ongoing effort to thin out my collection, I've decided to sell or exchange some old HP bits that I'm sure are more useful to other members of this list. They should probably go to the same person, though the latter might be useful to some HP41 owner, too :-) HP-75D, with power supply, 8k ram pack, about 16 magnetic strips and one abrasive cleaning strip, and I/O Rom. I only have the manual for the I/O ROM, and the June 1983 issue of the HP Journal; that is the only "manual" I have for the 75D. I don't have the battery pack, I did at some point, but can't find it anymore. Some cells were dead, anyways - I think I kept the plastic parts, but it may be lost. It's fully functional (on AC power), but looks used (of course). Two of the feet pads are missing. I also have the 82164A HP-IL/RS-232C Interface, with power supply and manual, but I never had any HP-IL cables, so I could never test it :-( This one looks as if it came just out of the shipping box. I'd be happy to trade for a more modern HP calc (HP48SX or better) or interesting MIDI gear - otherwise I'm open to offers. Pic at http://www.ece.mcgill.ca/~jthiem/IMG_1916.jpg Oh, I also have an HP Omnibook 600C (working except the left mouse button) that I'm trying to let go. I'm in Montreal, Canada. Joe. --- Joachim Thiemann :: http://www.tsp.ece.mcgill.ca/~jthiem

17 years, 5 months

DEC Letterprinter 100 -- what are they selling for?

by js＠cimmeri.com

Are DEC Letterprinter 100's in nice, working, non-noticeably-yellowed condition worth anything at present? Or are they pretty much recycling fodder? Thanks, JS

17 years, 5 months

VAX field maintenance print sets

by auringer＠tds.net

Hi all, While cleaning, I have come across the following field maintenance print sets. I am inclined to dump them in the recycle bin, unless someone _really_ wants them. The total weight is about 22lbs from Madison, WI. All are "B" size (11x17") - UNIT ASSEMBLY 11780 (3" worth) KU780 (2) 11780 MEMORY ASSY TAPE DRIVE TU78 TEE16 SYSTEM MAGNETIC TAPE DRIVE TE16 H9206-M EXPANDER CAB If interested, reply soon. Jon Jon Auringer auringer at tds.net

17 years, 5 months

keypunch equip on govliquidation

by brian＠quarterbyte.com

Looks like the lot has 4 brand new 029s and two used machines, at least one of which is an 026. Somebody go get these! Or, do what I did in 2001 when a lot came up, and get a group together to buy them and divvy them up. These don't come along that often. Looks like there is some interesting old radar display gear in there too, which some military buffs would probably want. Are those scope hoods made of Bakelite? http://cgi.govliquidation.com/auction/view?id=2037010&categoryId=c7149 There's a whole bunch of other stuff in the lot, but you can call the DRMO staff and see if they can either keep and relist the remainder, or give it to a surplus dealer. There are usually surplus dealers hanging around happy to haul off whatever doesn't sell or what gets abandoned. It's the logistics of shipping and dispersing the stuff that's painful. Looks like the four new 029s are crated, the 026(s) are sitting on pallets, and they'll have to be padded and strapped. In the 2001, I used freightquote.com and scheduled a pickup & had the units sent to the people in the group. FYI I just looked at the bills of lading, we listed the factory-crated 029's as 520 lbs each, and the 029s on pallets as 310 lbs each. At today's rates, you should be able to ship a palletized unit from Ohio to, say, California, with a liftgate delivery, for about $250, and a crated unit for about $350. I'd be interested to know on or off list what happens with these, punched card stuff is one of my areas of interest. Brian

17 years, 5 months

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test-drb November 2008